As we prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and as we recall our blessings and thank God for each and every one, let us also remember the humble turkey and the various disasters that result when that proud bird is not treated with the care that it deserves, dead or alive. Oldtimers like myself will recognize the above video as part of the famous “Turkey Drop” episode from WKRP, a sitcom from the Seventies.

Of course Turkey Disasters are not, unfortunately, restricted to the realm of fiction. Deep frying a turkey poses various risks.

Here we have a case of the flaming avian:

Then we have a scientific explanation of why a deep fat turkey friar is almost always a bad idea in unskilled hands.

Of course there are those among us who revel in the destructive possibilities of cooking turkey.

To summarize:

Tomorrow my bride will roast the turkey which is the way God intended for a turkey to be prepared. As usual, the kids and I will do the dishes. Have a happy and non-flaming Turkey Thanksgiving!

Don, thanks for a little bit of levity (which we sure could use) during the seriousness of this past week. I vividly recall watching the “Turkey episode” when it originally debuted. I think of WKRP everytime I drive down to Cincinnait and see the radio-tv tower used in the opening theme song. There was something about those 1970s and early 1980s tv shows where adult themes were not over the top and one could use their own imagination, instead of the obvious. If I remember right, the characters were based on real life radio personalities, though I have no idea if they had anything to do with the Cincinnati station WKRC. The immortal words of Mr. Carlson still reverberate in my ear; “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

“I have no idea if they had anything to do with the Cincinnati station WKRC.”

I don’t think they did. My late uncle worked at WKRC in the 60s and early 70s, in the control room. He usually worked the evening/night shift and he was acquainted with WKRC’s lead news anchor at the time, Nick Clooney, father of a certain well-known actor. Hey, that makes me only 3 degrees separated from George Clooney 🙂

My second most favorite WKRP show (after “Turkey Drop”) is the one where a tornado is about to hit Cincinnati and Les Nessman’s only guide for what to do in case of disaster is an old manual for responding to an atom bomb attack. He reads the instructions verbatim, subsituting “tornadoes” for “Soviets” and solemnly warns his listeners that they are under attack by “godless tornadoes.”

“Godless tornadoes!” Thanks, Elaine, for bringing back a great memory! WKRP was a wonderful show (I also miss Taxi and Barney Miller.)

This is a bit more serious, but I really appreciated this article by Jonah Goldberg about the Pope’s remarks re: condoms.

In the spring of 2005, Pope John Paul II died. My father, who passed away that summer, watched the funeral and the inauguration of the current pope, Benedict XVI, from his hospital bed. My dad, a Jew, loved the spectacle of it all. (The Vatican, he said, was the last institution that “really knows how to dress.”)

From what he could tell, he liked this new pope too. “We need more rocks in the river,” my dad explained. What he meant was that change comes so fast, in such a relentless torrent, that we need people and things that stand up to it and offer respite from the current.

It is just so rare and thus, so very refreshing, to read an appreciative, thoughtful article about the Pope written by a non-Catholic. In fact, I recently saw an interview with Goldberg on “Book World” and he said that although he is not an atheist, he is a “pretty secular guy” compared with most of his NRO colleagues. And yet this secular Jew has a deeper, more sympathetic understanding of our Church and our Pope than even many cradle Catholics do. After all the ridiculous hyperbole I’ve read about the Pope’s “approval” of condoms, Goldberg’s commonsense, respectful article is one small thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Of course, there are many other things to be thankful for, including this blog, which I do not get to read these days as much as I would like.